The Revs Program at Stanford is developing a dynamic archive of automotive history using the cutting edge skills and technology of Stanford Libraries. It will offer online access to an exceptional library of resources plus powerful facilities for anyone in the automotive past to collect, annotate, upload and share their interests and knowledge – a cocreated archive.
For me this is an opportunity to build a new kind of animated archive centered upon active engagements with the remains of the past – I’m calling this kind of effort in critical heritage management Archive 3.0 – [Link]
We have just acquired the archives of Road and Track magazine. Rob Sass comments in the New York Times today:
AUTOMAKERS have not always been the best stewards of the history and heritage of their brands. Some have begun to appreciate fully the value of these assets only in recent decades, it seems.
Likewise, the auto periodicals recording the first draft of that history have sometimes let their own archival materials slip away, the practical challenges of cataloging and storing their work taking precedence over its historical importance. But a few publishers are taking steps to protect, preserve, share, utilize — and in some cases profit from — their history.
The Revs Program at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., has been at the vanguard of the new movement to create an accessible repository of automotive history. The program describes itself as “a new trans-disciplinary field connecting the past, present and future of the automobile. The program aims to put the automobile at the center of the university and raise the quality of academic discourse at Stanford and beyond.”
Miles Collier, the founder of the Revs Institute in Naples, Fla., gave the initial gift endowing the Revs Program at Stanford. On behalf of the institute, Mr. Collier recently acquired the library of Karl Ludvigsen, a prolific automotive journalist.
This week, the Revs Program will announce that Hearst Publishing is transferring the archives of Road & Track magazine to the Revs Program. Road & Track, which dates back to 1947, was perhaps the most influential American automotive publication after World War II …
Animating the archive: Road and Track Magazine arrives at the Revs Program, Stanford – 10,000 pounds of history in 527 boxes
